Rapper Casanova has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for gang-related racketeering and narcotics offences.
U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern sentenced the rapper, real name Caswell Senior, to 188 months - or 15 years and eight months - in prison for the offences on Tuesday.
According to prosecutors, Senior was the leader of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation Bloods Gang, also known as Gorilla Stone, and was involved in a shooting in Florida in July 2020, a robbery in New York City in August 2018, and conspired to traffic over 100 kilograms of marijuana.
In a statement, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, "Caswell Senior is not just a notorious recording artist, but he is also a high-profile leader of a vicious street gang and a magnet for gang violence.
"Senior's stature in the community was central to Gorilla Stone's successful recruitment and nationwide expansion. Today's sentencing - along with the other significant sentences that have been imposed in this case - shows once again that gang life is not worth it and will lead to many years in prison."
Senior, who was indicted in late 2020, previously pleaded guilty to the offences.
In addition to the prison term, Senior, 36, was sentenced to four years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $50,000 (£39,000).
